Pro-Putin Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico shot in assassination attempt

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico rushed into second surgery in two days after being shot multiple times at point blank range.

Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico was rushed into a second surgery in two days after he was shot at point blank range multiple times in Europe’s first assassination attempt in more than 20 years.

The polemical prime minister was blasted several times by a lone shooter, including in the stomach, and was left fighting for his life after addressing supporters in the former mining town of Handlova on Wednesday.

A writer and former security guard, Juraj Cintula, 71, was arrested and charged.

The prime minister underwent emergency surgery and was left critical in intensive care at University FD Roosevelt Hospital in Banska Bystric, amid reports he had cheated death “by just a hair”.

He has since undergone a separate surgery at the hospital to extract dead tissue.

Hospital director Miriam Lapunikova said he is currently awake and stable in an intensive care unit.

His condition is still “very serious” and doctors will know whether he is expected to make a full recovery in several days.

Deputy prime minister Robert Kaliniak told reporters: “I think it will take several more days until we will definitely know the direction of the further development.”

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico being transported by medics and his security detail to the hospital in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia after he was shot “multiple times”. Picture: AFP

Police charged alleged gunman Cintula with the attempted murder of Mr Fico, saying the shooting was sparked by the election win last month of a Mr Fico ally.

The Slovak interior minister Matus Sutaj Estok described the suspect accused of shooting the prime minister as a “lone wolf” who did not belong to any political groups and confirmed he has been charged with attempted murder.

“This is a lone wolf whose actions were accelerated after the presidential elections since he was dissatisfied with its outcome,” Mr Estok said, adding the attempt on Mr Mr Fico’s life was “politically motivated”.

The Slovakian Prime Minister “escaped death by just a hair,” after he was shot at in the stomach, Slovakia’s president said as he pleaded with the country to turn away from violence.

President-elect Peter Pellegrini said if the bullets had hit a few millimetres either side, he would have been killed, adding he is still “critical” and living “the worst hours and days of his life”.

“If the gunshot wounds were in a different place by a few centimetres, today we might have to talk about completely different things”, he said, referring to the prospect of Mr Fico having been killed.

“He was saved from death by a hair,” he said, revealing he had been able to speak to him in hospital.

Robert Kalinak, the deputy prime minister and defence minister, said it was too soon to gauge if Mr Fico would make a full recovery.

“Unfortunately I cannot say yet that we are winning, or that the prognosis is positive because the extent of the injuries caused by four gunshot wounds is so extensive that the body’s response will still be very difficult,” he said.

Security personnel apprehending a suspected gunman after Slovakia's Prime Minister was shot in Handlova. Picture: AFP

Hospital director Miriam Lapuníková said Mr Mr Fico was under the care of not one but two surgical teams who performed his life saving operations.

Ms Lapuníková added the Prime Minister remained in intensive care “stabilized but in a very serious condition”.

Surgeons spent hours battling to save the 59-year-old leader after the shooting, which happened on Wednesday afternoon as Mr Mr Fico spoke to members of the public after a meeting.

Slovak president-elect Peter Pellegrini, the Mr Fico ally who won April’s vote, called for calm, urging political parties to halt campaigning for June’s EU parliament election.

The leader of the biggest opposition party, centrist Progressive Slovakia, announced his party had already done so.

Slovakia’s politics have been divided for years between pro-Europeans and nationalist-leaning camps, with the latest elections heavily influenced by disinformation and verbal attacks on social media.

Mr Pellegrini, Mr Mr Fico’s ally who will assume office in June, said Slovakia should avoid “further confrontation” in a joint statement with outgoing President Zuzana Caputova.

The two politicians represent rival political camps but Caputova said they wanted “to send a signal of understanding” as she urged an end to “the vicious circle of hatred”.

Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Mr Fico is not “out of the woods”, government sources said. Picture: AFP

Slovakia's president-elect Peter Pellegrini in front of the hospital in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia, where Slovak Prime Minister Robert Mr Fico is being treated. Picture: AFP

Footage of events just after the shooting showed security agents grabbing a wounded Mr Fico from the ground and hustling him into a black car. Other police handcuffed a man on the pavement nearby.

Mr Mr Fico, whose party won the general election last September, is a four-time prime minister and political veteran accused of swaying his country’s foreign policy in favour of the Kremlin.

Mr Mr Fico, who is one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most vocal supporters on the world stage, was shot five times in the central Slovak town of Handlova before his guards managed to drag him into a car.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Mr Putin spoke out against the attack.

The suspected gunman on the ground after the shooting. Picture: AFP

Security guards carry Slovakia's PM towards a vehicle after he was shot in Handlova. Picture: AFP

Mr Zelenskyy condemned the “appalling” shooting.

“We strongly condemn this act of violence against our neighbouring partner state’s head of government. Every effort should be made to ensure that violence does not become the norm in any country, form, or sphere,” Mr Zelenskyy said.

Mr Putin called the shooting a “heinous crime”.

“I know Robert Mr Fico to be a courageous and strong-spirited man. I very much hope that these qualities will help him to withstand this difficult situation,” Mr Putin said.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden said he and the first lady “are praying for a swift recovery, and our thoughts are with his family and the people of Slovakia.”

Prime Minister Robert Mr Fico being transported from a helicopter by medics to the hospital in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia. Picture: AFP

Local Media reports said the suspect was a founder of the DUHA (Rainbow) Literary Club and was from the town of Levice.

The reports, which also named him, said he has written three poetry collections and is a member of the official Association of Slovak Writers.

The association confirmed on Facebook that the man had been a member since 2015, adding that if his identity as the suspected shooter was confirmed “the membership of this despicable person will be immediately cancelled”.

Vladimir Putin has called shooting of Slovakian PM Robert Mr Fico “a heinous crime”. Picture: AFP

The suspect’s son told Slovak news site aktuality.sk that he had “absolutely no idea what father was thinking, what he was planning, why it happened”.

He said his father was a legally registered gun owner.

When asked if he felt any hatred toward Mr Mr Fico, the son said: “I’ll tell you this: he didn’t vote for him. That’s all I can say about it.”